 |
| Members of the Imagining Sovereignties: The Role of Cultural Production panel: Dan Taulapapa McMullin, an independent writer and filmmaker; Vicente M. Diaz, assistant professor at the University of Michigan; and L. Lehuanani Lono Yim of Brandeis University. |
Sovereignty Matters: An Interdisciplinary Conference on Sovereignty in Native America, Pacific Islander, and Puerto Rican Communities, was sponsored by Columbia University's Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race, and the Institute for Research in African-American Studies, and organized by Columbia professor Frances Negrón-Muntaner to spur debate and further study on the multiple meanings and discourses of sovereignty, promote comparative work, and engage with the broader implications of nation-building in the U.S. The conference brought together native scholars, writers, and filmmakers from the Pacific to the Caribbean for stimulating discussions on the history and emerging forms of sovereignty.
Jonathon Kay Kamakawiwo‘ole Osorio's paper, Conflicting Interpretations of Sovereignty in Hawai'i and the Historic Roots of Disunity and Davianna Pomaika‘i McGregor‘s paper, Recognizing Native Hawaiians: Reality Bites raised an interesting question, i.e., “Do indigenous peoples need land to be sovereign?” Put another way the question is “Can we be konohiki without ahupua‘a?” We think the answer is yes. Anyone interested in doing some research and writing on this issue should contact Mervyn Tano at 303-733-0481. According to Gary Y. Okihiro, Director of the Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race, the conference papers are being edited and prepared for publication.
Intellectual Property, Geographic Indicators. The WTO Dispute Settlement Body on April 20, 2005 adopted the March 15, 2005 panel report on the European Communities' protection of trademarks and geographical indications for agricultural products and foodstuffs.
The ruling by the WTO on the protection of geographic indicators left both sides in the conflict declaring victory. The European Union hailed the ruling as a proof that its protections are compatible with international trademark law. Producers in the United States and Australia, who were not allowed to apply for protection of their own geographical indicators under current EU rules, were pleased by the WTO order to extend such trademark protection to products not originating in the EU.
At the heart of the issue are EU rules protecting trademarks for products like Bordeaux wine or Roquefort cheese. These geographical indicators serve as a sort of guarantee of quality, allowing only products actually produced in a region by approved methods to bear that region's name. The EU had claimed that U.S. and Australian food and beverage producers were not eligible for protection of geographical indicators because European products were not afforded such protection in those countries of origin. Now, however, tribal agricultural products may apply for the same rights as the makers of Portuguese Madeira wine or Parma ham. For more information on tribal applications of geographic indicators, contact Mervyn Tano at 303-733-0481.
Environmental Protection, Emissions Control. An article in the April 2005 edition of Power Magazine provides an excellent summary of the Environmental Protection Agency‘s announcement of the most comprehensive air-quality regulations for coal-fired power plants since the Clean Air Act‘s Acid Rain Program, which began in 1995. The EPA‘s one-two punch consisted of the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) for reducing NOx and SO2 emissions and the Clean Air Mercury Rule (CAMR). Both rules call for the use of a cap-and-trade approach to emissions reduction. That method has worked well for the Acid Rain Program; a progress report issued in mid-March indicates that U.S. power plants' annual output of SO2 and NOx have declined 32% and 37%, respectively, since 1990 and that aggregate emissions of six major pollutants have fallen. To read the article and subscribe to Power see www.powermag.platts.com.
Nuclear Weapons, Nonproliferation. "Some 35,000 nuclear weapons remain in the arsenals of the nuclear powers, with thousands still deployed on hair-trigger alert. Whatever rationale these weapons may once have had has long since dwindled. Political, moral, and legal constraints on actually using them further undermine their strategic utility without, however, reducing the risks of inadvertent war or proliferation. The objective of nuclear non-proliferation is not helped by the fact that the nuclear weapon States continue to insist that those weapons in their hands enhance security, while in the hands of others they are a threat to world peace. If we were making steady progress towards disarmament, this situation would be less alarming. Unfortunately, the reverse is true." — United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan. In May, 189 States will decide the future direction for the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The latest edition of the IAEA Bulletin is devoted to the NPT, nuclear security, and disarmament. Read it at http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Magazines/Bulletin/Bull462/index.html.
NAID/ADC 2005 Annual Conference
This will be the first national conference dealing with the impacts of the new Base Realignment and Closure list and other important topics for defense communities like privatization, outsourcing, and community-installation partnerships.
June 4-7, 2005
Colorado Convention Center
Denver, Colorado
Register at http://www.defensecommunities.org/AnnualConference/index.html.
Council of Energy Resource Tribes Indian Energy Solutions 2005
June 21-22, 2005
Morongo Casino~Resort~Spa
Cabazon, California
Information and registration at http://www.certredearth.com/content.php?page=events&title=Events.
StormCon, The North American Surface Water Quality Conference & Exposition
This is the place to be to learn about technical, managerial, and technological solutions to stormwater management.
July 18-21, 2005
JW Marriott Grande Lakes
Orlando, Florida
See the conference program at www.StormCon.com.
Brownfields 2005 Conference
November 2-4, 2005
Colorado Convention Center
Denver, Colorado
Information and registration at http://www.brownfields2005.org/en/index.aspx